A vastly improved Carolina Panthers team gave the Philadelphia Eagles all they could handle Sunday afternoon.
But they couldn’t quite pull off the upset in a 22-16 Eagles win. Carolina had a chance for a late go-ahead score after an Eagles punt late in the fourth quarter. But Carolina couldn’t capitalize as a stout Eagles defense came up with a late stop to secure the win.
With the win, the Eagles improved to 11-2 to remain one game behind the Detroit Lions in the race for the No. 1 seed in the NFC playoffs. They also saved an Eagles bettor from a massive loss.
A bettor placed a $3.1 million money line wager on the Eagles to win, one of the largest ever placed on a regular-season NFL game. Said bettor had a significant sweat before the Eagles pulled off the win.
The Eagles carried a 14-10 lead into halftime. But the Panthers scored a touchdown on their first drive of the second half and took a 16-14 lead following a missed extra point.
The Eagles answered with a touchdown drive to retake the lead at 22-16. But Carolina had one last chance after forcing an Eagles punt with with 3:05 remaining.
Panthers quarterback Bryce Young delivered multiple big plays on the ensuing drive. He scrambled in the end zone to buy time and throw a 31-yard first-down strike to Xavier Legette on third-and-11. He then converted on fourth-and-7 from midfield with a 13-yard pass to Adam Thielen.
Young then nearly found Legette on a deep ball down the middle close to the goal line. But the ball bounced off the turf on Legette’s diving attempt, and the pass was incomplete.
The Eagles forced an incompletion on an ensuing fourth-and-9 to lock up the win and stave off the upset bid.